YOUNGSTOWN Demolition monitor not required

The decision was consistent with the city's handling of such projects.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city isn't alone in Ohio when it chooses against monitoring private commercial demolition jobs.
Virtually no municipalities assign inspectors because they aren't legally required, said John Brant, executive secretary of the Ohio Board of Building Standards.
The Ohio Building Code used to regulate demolition procedures. Those regulations, however, have been stripped away since the 1980s, Brant said.
Court decisions took jurisdiction for demolition from his office, he said. No other state entity took on the responsibility, he added.
The result is that few, if any, municipalities assign inspectors to private demolitions.
"I don't think it's routine practice," Brant said.
Safety at a site rests with the contractor, not municipalities that grant demolition permits, he said.
Safety is an open question in Saturday's death of Charles Thomas, 55, of Boardman Street. A steel beam that fell from a broken crane crushed the man as he stood on Phelps Street near the demolition of an old parking garage.
On Friday, the demolition company asked for, and received, the city's permission to close Phelps Street. A key question will be whether the street was blocked off correctly.
Precautions taken
William Pizzuto, demolition company owner, said his workers asked Thomas to leave the area several times before the accident but the man kept coming back. Pizzuto said the area around the demolition site was roped off.
Contractors must take steps to assure safety at their projects, including that of onlookers, Brant said. In downtowns, that means contractors' hiring their own security, if necessary, he said.
"I don't think the city is really responsible," he said.
The city has a long history of sending inspectors to all the razings that it contracts out but not private jobs, said Mike Damiano, housing and demolition director.
City inspectors are on site for the two hours it takes to level a residential house, he said. Inspectors are there to assure crews don't damage nearby properties.
The city had an inspector watching the whole Washington school demolition last year, he said. The city awarded that contract, and many people were near the site, so an inspector was there, he said.
Before the downtown parking garage project started, Damiano said he asked Carmen Conglose Jr., deputy director of public works, if the city needed an inspector on site.
Damiano said the answer was no since it was a private job. The decision was consistent with how the city has handled such projects for years, Damiano said. Conglose wasn't available Monday afternoon to comment.
A few days before the accident, there was concern that demolition would affect the adjacent WFMJ building, Damiano said. City inspectors checked to be sure there was no problem, he said.
The city is waiting for a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration inquiry before deciding what to do next. An OSHA official said the agency might not have a role since no worker was injured.
rgsmith@vindy.com